Reference for Paper

Adolph, K. E., & Hoch, J. E. (2019). Motor development: Embodied, embedded, enculturated, and enabling. Annual review of psychology, 70, 141.

🐣Thread Link

https://twitter.com/Mr_Tennis_Coach/status/1542968850286780419

🚀 Article in 3 Sentences

1. The paper begins by explaining why motor development and psychology are intertwined.
2. Embodied & Embedded: No movement will ever be able to be repeated in the same way as the bodies, environment and task are in continual flux. Movements only occur in a body that is in a physical environment. Changes to either of these alter the possibilities for action
3. Encultured & Enabling: Motor skills are constrained by sociocultural constraints. The acquisition of new skills open up more of the world which enable more opportunities for exploration and learning.

🤝Impressions

This is one of my all time favourite papers and really enjoyed going over it again.

👨‍🏫Who should read this?

Anybody that is involved in coaching or teaching would benefit from reading the paper. While it’s about infants the same aspects of development span across all motor development.

🎾How Article will influence my coaching

• Need to be more aware of what the current action capabilities of the players are and what they can/can’t do because of this. What affordances are unavailable to them due to their action capabilities?
• What are the sociocultural constraints present and what one’s are benefiting and what are having a negative influence?
• They are learning to generate relevant info about novel problems and their potential solutions

📃Takeaways for coaches

• Movements depend on the performer's abilities, the environment's opportunities, and the sociocultural influences. As capabilities improve, new action possibilities arise, leading to developmental progress in various areas.-This was one of my favourite pieces from the text. They refer to it as ‘cascades of development’. As action capabilities develop new possibilities for action are now possible which can lead to development in different areas.
• Behavioural flexibility is the ability to adapt actions to suit changes in the body, environment and task. Flexibility can involve transferring a solution from another area or coming up with a new one to suit the demands of the situation-Another fantastic insight from the paper and it captures exactly what is required for behavioural flexibility or adaptability. Solutions can be transferred from one area to another or be completely new depending on the demands (or constraints) of the specific situation